Monday, November 02, 2015

Wild flower meadows

While this is not exactly a wild flower meadow, it is a trend in major gardens in England to leave a patch wild. But in other areas, huge swathes of land are left a wild flower meadows and it is possible to visit some of them. Just as hedgerows are important, wild flower meadows are increasing not just in popularity but in necessity. They form a habitat for butterflies and especially for bees. Successful and sustainable farming depends on having a healthy and vast bee population to pollinate the crops. In the USA farmers have to hire truckloads of bees in hives to come and pollinate the crop. This happens because we have eliminated the habitat for the bees and/or we have poisoned them with insecticides. During my visit to Europe in Summer, I came across so many bees, each time I tried to stick my nose into a flower, I find a bee has already beaten me to it. This never happens in the USA where I live. It was exciting to experience it and to see wild flower meadows.

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